In playing bingo, players are provided with cards having 24 numbers arranged in a 5.times.5 matrix with a center "free" square. The numbers 1-75 are grouped with the letters such that numbers 1-15 are associated with the letter B, numbers 16-30 are associated with the letter I, numbers 31-45 are associated with the letter N, numbers 46-60 are associated with the letter G and numbers 61-75 are associated with the letter 0. As numbers from 1-75 are randomly selected, individual players mark the selected numbers on their card. United States Pat. Nos. 3,653,026 to Hurley and 4,121,830 to Buckley are directed to improved systems for randomly selecting bingo card numbers. United States Pat. No. 4,312,511 to Julien is directed to an electronic bingo game in which the various numbers drawn in the game are displayed.
In the most elementary form of the game, the first player to complete a horizontal row, a vertical column or the four corners of the bingo card is the winner. Additionally, other levels or types of bingo games include the first player to have marked the entire external perimeter or "window frame" of the bingo card, and the first player to have covered or marked every number on the bingo card.
Bingo and other similar card games have proven to be popular games for all age groups, but have heretofore been restricted to the playing in an auditorium or hall thereby limiting the number of participants to the capacity of the hall. Furthermore, the fact that players must accurately mark their own cards in order to be declared a winner has disadvantages for certain groups of players. For example, the physically impaired, the very young with under-developed reflexes and muscle control or the elderly with slowed reflexes and/or failing eyesight are at a distinct disadvantage when competing with players who do not suffer from these infirmities. Additionally, any player who misses the calling or announcement of a particular number and thus fails to mark that number on the game card may lose that particular game even though the card is a "winning card" by virtue of having printed thereon all the numbers called during that particular game.
United States Pat. Nos. 3,786,234 to Trent et al and 4,033,588 to Watts disclose automated Keno games. Trent et al discloses a system in which the identity of marked numbers is used at the local ticket selling station so as to print duplicate Keno cards. Watts suggests in an alternative embodiment at column 22, lines 27-63 a computerized system that simultaneously plays the Keno game with human participants. But Watts does not provide an enabling disclosure for such a system, nor does it disclose a computerized system in which the level of the game is progressively changed and winners are announced at each level of the game.